CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government on Wednesday informed the High Court that despite its “best efforts,” radical preacher Amritpal Singh has not been arrested yet.
In a fresh turn to the hunt for the fugitive, the separatist sympathizer for the first time since his escape from the law enforcers released his video on social media in which he has given a call for Sarbat Khalsa (community gathering) on the occasion of Baisakhi (April 13) and appealed to Sikh organizations from home and abroad to gather and discuss issues related to the community.
Amritpal said he was fine and in high spirits and that he was not afraid of arrest. In the court, Justice NS Shekhawat was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by advocate Imaan Singh Khara, seeking the release of Amritpal from the alleged police custody.
Khara is Amritpal’s legal advisor and his outfit Waris Punjab De. During the resumed hearing in the matter today, the state government through an affidavit from Deputy Inspector General of Police (Border Range) Narinder Bhargav told the court that Amritpal is absconding from the law.
“Raids have been conducted to apprehend and detain Amritpal Singh. Multiple teams headed by senior police officers, including the senior superintendent of police, have raided various suspected hideouts. But despite best efforts on the part of the police, he has not been arrested/detained so far,” said the affidavit.
It said a “hue and cry” notice on giving information about Amritpal’s whereabouts was also issued by the senior superintendent of police, Amritsar Rural, on March 28. The notice has been shared with commissioners of police and senior superintendents of police in the country, it said, adding the notice has been circulated in public places.
Amritpal in a video on social media said: “Today I’m speaking to the Sikh community for the first time since March 18. I want to first talk about what happened on that day. If the government wanted to only arrest me, they could have said so and I would have surrendered. But they tried to trap me by deploying police personnel. My initial thought was that they wanted to prevent me from entering Malwa to prevent us from beginning the Khalsa Vahir. So I wanted to reach Malwa somehow,’’ he says.
Unable to detain Singh despite raids, HC told
“Raids have been conducted to apprehend and detain Amritpal Singh. Multiple teams headed by senior police officers, including the senior superintendent of police, have raided various suspected hideouts. But despite best efforts on the part of the police, he has not been arrested/detained so far,” said an affidavit of the Punjab government filed in Punjab & Haryana High Court. It said a ‘hue and cry’ notice on giving information about Amritpal’s whereabouts was also issued by the police.
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